In The News

Global Economy Sails into a New Era

Robert Manor July 26, 2004
Oil is an input used in all aspects of the economy, from transporting goods to illuminating factories. So when oil prices increase, great economic repercussions can follow. According to James Hamilton, a professor of economics at the University of California at San Diego, oil shortages trailing the Suez crisis of 1956, the oil embargo of 1973, the Iranian revolution in 1979, the Iraq-Iran war...

A Global Power Shift in the Making

James F. Hoge, Jr. July 21, 2004
China has an economy that by 2010 will be double the size of Germany’s. Japan has fed off this growth to pull itself out of its 1990s economic malaise and enjoyed a real GDP growth rate of 6.4% in the last quarter of 2003. Elsewhere in Asia, the “tigers” have recovered from the 1997 financial crisis, and India’s economy is growing at 8% per year with some economists predicting that India could...

America's Korea Policy Needs an Overhaul

Stephen W. Linton July 20, 2004
Despite decades of American economic and military support for South Korea, in recent years younger South Koreans have begun to express virulently anti-US views. It is no longer only in meetings with North Korea's communist government that American visitors to the Korean peninsula confront charges of US economic imperialism, war-mongering, and colonial intentions. In fact, says Korea...

Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore Launch Coordinated Patrol of Malacca Strait

July 20, 2004
Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore started joint naval patrols of the Malacca Strait on Tuesday. The move comes as a response to piracy in one of the world’s busiest sea lanes, where approximately 50,000 commercial ships pass per year. Ships of the three countries will be able to enter each other’s territorial waters while in pursuit of pirates after obtaining official permission. Other...

Garment Industry Faces a Global Shake-Up

Guy de Jonquières July 19, 2004
At the end of the year, the global economy will face restructuring in its textile sector as the Multifiber Agreement is abolished. Formalized in 1974, the Multifiber Agreement established a system of production quotes originally designed to safeguard jobs in developed nations from being shipped overseas. The principal aim of the agreement was achieved, but at a cost of 35 lost jobs in the...

Ban Sale of Ramin: Lobby Group

Evelyn Shih July 15, 2004
The logging of Indonesian ramin wood, a material used in such products as pool cues and picture frames, has largely been made illegal by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) because it contributes to the destruction of endangered rainforests and the orangutans that call them home. To ensure proper management of the forests, the Indonesian government has approved a...

Strategy for an Energy-Starved World: Go Coal!

David Dapice July 15, 2004
Gas prices are soaring, as anyone with a car well knows. But, though $40 a barrel prices are hurting wallets, economist David Dapice argues that the situation has the beneficial effect of encouraging countries to look at alternative energy sources with greater urgency. China, for example, recently signed an agreement with a South African energy and chemicals firm to build two coal-to-liquid fuel...